Wireless communications networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and the like. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources.
A wireless communications network may include a number of access points. The access points of a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may include a number of base stations, such as NodeBs (NBs) or evolved NodeBs (eNBs). The access points of a wireless local area network (WLAN) may include a number of WLAN access points, such as Wi-Fi nodes. Each access point may support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs) and may often communicate with multiple UEs at the same time. Similarly, each UE may communicate with a number of access points, and may sometimes communicate with multiple access points and/or access points employing different access technologies. An access point may communicate with a UE via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the access point to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the access point.
As WWANs become more heavily utilized, operators are seeking ways to increase capacity. One approach may include the use of WLANs to offload some of the traffic and/or signaling of a WWAN. WLANs (such as Wi-Fi networks) may offer attractive features because, unlike WWANs that operate in a licensed spectrum, Wi-Fi networks may operate in an unlicensed spectrum, and are thus available for use by various entities subject to established rules for providing fair access to the spectrum. In some deployments, various operators may wish to access the unlicensed spectrum for use in establishing a connection to a UE. In some cases, a wireless connection may be established using a licensed spectrum, and a second wireless connection may be established using unlicensed spectrum. The wireless connection using the licensed spectrum may be established using a first, or primary, cell, and the second wireless connection using the unlicensed spectrum may be established using a second, or secondary, cell. The first and second cells may or may not be collocated. Some operators may desire to provide different charge rates for traffic served over such different cells.